This entry was posted
on Saturday, June 11th, 2011 at 8:01 am and is filed under Chet The Dog.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.

104 Responses to “Possibly Heartwarming Story”

Yup we do love our humans. And some of us are lucky enough to be able to do some special work to help them. Of course all of us make humans lives better just by being fur balls of love. Even Rio (tee hee)

Thank dog they are finally doing this. They need to get this fire knocked down!
Very slow day in Crazy Lady Land. Yawn. If we need to be here we need some women to come in
Or we need industrial size coffee

Auction!… Hey! My friend just took some photos of my Auction Item. We are uploading them as I tip-tap type…heh!….Melanie, hopefully one of them will come out okay and it will be in your Secret Decoder Device this morning…wuffle!

There has been a story on the Iditarod website or maybe it has been in the emails I get from them about a dog helping an autistic Native American boy in Alaska. They gave him this dog for the sole purpose of helping him, and the dog has worked wonders.
This is all I remember, Rebecca might know more.

Great photo, Melanie. The weather forecast for the Arizona wildfire is 30 to 35 mph winds for the next 5 days.
Our weather forecast is for the smoke to drop down out of the sky and come back to the ground later today. The past two days we have been free of it on the ground.
The general concensus among the humans is that it is depressing and they feel like a slug when the smoke is at ground level…not to mention the very sore throats it causes. Mom is worried about us dogs, but we we acting normal.

Melanie, Thanks for asking. We are a long ways from the fire. There is a small community, Luna, NM that is right in the path of the fire, but they have had so much time to bulldoze a fire line around it and set backfires, that the hope is Luna will be spared.
There are also power lines in the path of the fire. If the fire reaches them, there could be rolling blackouts to parts of west Texas and southern NM. This is bad because that is the hottest part of the state and those people and dogs need their air conditioning.

SiberH: You are correct. A couple of years ago a boy with autism bonded with a dog that came through his village that serves as one of the checkpoints on Iditarod. From what I understand, the boy had never before spoken, but after the musher left the boy said the name of the dog. After fund raising, he was able to meet his service dog, Juke. Juke helps keep him safe in remote Alaska as well as helping with his development. Dogs are very special creatures.

Melania and T&G: I loved your info-mercial, and while I think the evil pug would fetch a fair price, what would his friend do without him? Plus, there is that whole yard restriction thing to take into account.

Auction!…Well she’s been out on the driveway trying to get a good shot of my precious Auction Item…grunt!…I hope she did not hurt it. Maybe this time she got something Melanie can work with…pleeeezzzze!

Rabbit dressage? Sigh…..Dressage (from the French meaning “prepare” i.e., train) with horses involves the rider giving the horse subtle body signals to perform various movements. What is the similarity with bunnies? (I do understand the need for the leashes.)

I can imagine the releif for her loved ones to know that she is alive and safe. We don’t know her personally, but we do know the heartache that comes with a missing loved one whether it is a two or four-legged. We also know the relief that comes with the missing is found. The official search was called off earlier this week; as I understand it, she was found via the efforts of a private search party.

Melanie: I must have a little husky in me because I had to re-read B’s post to realize it wasn’t dressing.

Salad!… I just watched my friend make another big batch of her potato salad that everybody loves…snort!…Tomorrow her brother is finally coming over to move my TV and our comfortable chair —DOWNSTAIRS!!!! —–WOOOOOOOOWEEEEEE!…Lord have mercy I am so freakin’ happy!…snort!snort!… Anyways, after all the moving of some stuff, they are going to grill steaks and have a big ole lunch!…heh!…Me too dammit!…Me too!

We are so happy that the missing musher wa found We will be saying prayers that she will be ok and can be reunited with her dogs soon.
And now the Belmont race is on. The track is heavy and muddy so Mama won’t watch it live. She’ll wait for the reruns and will only watch those if no horse got hurt
She wishes they would call off races in this kind of weather

Wow!…So they just found her today?….sniff!…I am so curious as to what happened to her…grunt!…I hope this isn’t like the Astrid Mystery and we never find out what really happened…snort!….What if Astrid had been found with her! Wouldn’t that be an amazing story?…heh!

“Dress” (and dressing) is derived from the same Old French word as dressage. I still don’t see any dressage involved in jumping rabbits…..unless the writer of the headline is using it simply as “train.” Grump….

You sort of wonder how on earth you can do dressage with rabbits. In less it’s a rabbit from Night of the Leupus. A film Zoë and I watched while we were both deathly ill back in the 90’s. Filmed in 1975 it has giant man eating rabbits in it. I guess when they were done the film wasn’t long enough so they kept showing the same scene of the Rabbits stampeding.

You could ride one of those rabbits but I don’t think it would be the combining of two souls.

Dressing!…. I don’t think the Plunderers have reached that level of Dressage yet…..grunt!…Look how long it takes us to agree on a Description Format…heh! …One day maybe, but then there will always be the Newbies throwing a wrench right into the Dressing…huffle!

Tired!….We were busy zoom!zoom!zooming! around town today…heh!…First we bought a shit-load of groceries. Tomorrows that big lunch I told you all about…snort!…Then we went to the Used Book store and found Alexander McCall Smith’s # 7 book!…wooooo!…That’s the one we were almost ready to order at full price on B&N’s…heh! …Plus, we found an Alaskan Mystery by Sue Henry, Beneath The Ashes…Jackpot!

Supper!…We are cookin’ up some Dawgs fer supper!…snort!…Little of that Potato Salad and then we are sitting down for the Rockies Games….WOOOOO!….Still fixin’ to kill the Dodgers once again!…Love it!

Confused!…I’m kinda confused over the Bunnies thing, but if I watch the video I will be running after them all night long in my sleep…grunt!….We have a lot to do tomorrow, so I can’t be tuckered out over virtual bunnies…sniff!…Game On! Makes the whole day worthwhile…woooo!

Bonding!… I get the whole AJ bonding with the Racers on the Ititarod trail, but bonding with rabbits eludes me…snort!….It’s sort of like trying to bond with a Goat…grunt!…They, rabbits and goats, are all kind of vague, uninteresting and scary all at the same time…sniff!…I will go back to the game now…wuffle!

Cahoots!….heh!…I’m sure they are in-it together…grunt!… It’s a whole conspiracy as far as I am concerned.…sniff!… Supper is over and we are enjoying the game right now. She is threatening to take me for a long up-hill walk…grunt! …Hopefully the game will get very exciting and she won’t want to leave the house dragging me behind her….wheeze!

Walk!…. Oh no, she is serious about this walking thing….sob!sob!sob!…All of a sudden I am buckled up in my harness and she is coming at me with the leash….sob!sob!sob!…. I was busy all day watching her work and work, I’m all tired out…snuff!…Why do I have to go on this walk too?….grump!choke!cough!

Firstly: Excellent news regarding the Alaskan Melanie. Her friends did not give up the search, luckily.
Secondly: There can not be a 2 for 1 sale on Rio’s because there is only one Rio. Uncopyable.
Rio: I have a new book by Alexander McCall Smith too. Brought home from my travels.
I finished a Walter Mosley detective novel earlier and due to today’s post thought it would be a good time to start, Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin. “Using the mysteries of Autism to decode animal behavior”

Our Grandpa had a big dog for many years – they would go for looooonnnnngggg walks every day, sometimes two or three times a day. Walks that lasted hours. They would go for miles through the woods and all around the neighborhoods.
Then, that lovely big dog walked over the Rainbow Bridge.
Our Grampa was so sad. And he missed his long walks so much. For a whle, he tried to get Tupper to go with him. But her legs are so short, a trip around the block was like a marathon.
Mama came home one day when Gramp had just returned home with an exhausted Tupper.
“Please” , Tupper begged Mama, “Find some way to entertain Gramp that doesn’t have to do with Corgis.”
So, Mama went out and rescued Callie, the Great Pyrenees. Now Callie and Grampa go for long 5 miles walks through the woods and around the neighborhoods.
And Tupper gets to stay home on the couch.
And they lived happily ever after.

I have to imagine that taking one of the sled dogs is different than taking Rio for a dog. I’ve been taken for many walks by just one member of our team.

I knew it was happening slowly, but I am pretty certain that my old stray, Howard has completely lost his hearing. At one time I would get a response if I called his name using my outside voice, but this week was different. Standing only a couple feet behind him tonight doing chores, I called and called his name. Louder and louder. Nothing. Not even an ear twitch. I softly touched the southend of a north bound Howard and he barked in response, “What the hell!” Then seeing it was me, “Oh, hello my lady.” I love my old guy.

Snowhook Bella: I’m glad Howard has you to take care of him in his old age. I went to your blog today and there seems to be a new look or maybe it’s just been awhile. I couldn’t stay long because my eyes were watering.
Mosquitos! It’s a bumper year.

SiberH: With Melanie being found only hours ago, there is a lot of speculation and questions. We may never know the whole story, and perhpas it isn’t for us to know. I do know that I’m glad she was found and grateful that the heartache of her loved ones can be eased.

As for my dear Howard, he is a very special dog. I have no idea how old he is; he was old when he found me. I do think he must have been something remarkable in his prime.

Dear Rebecca,
When my cat Gypsy went deaf I found that she would look at me if I would thump on something that vibrated. She couldn’t hear but she could feel vibrations. Of course she was an indoor kat so I could just stomp on the floor. Harder to do outside I expect.

Rio: Not much has been reported beyond Melanie being found earlier today. I believe it is the lack of details that is leading to rumors and speculation by readers of the paper. I don’t want to add to rumors or speak to something I don’t know for certain, but the comments of the readers vary from gratefulness that she was found and some are very negative and speculative.

Staff: His deafness seems to taken over just this week; last week I would receive an ear twitch in response. I will try gently thumping the top of his dog house (he has his choice of three plus a cabin that AJ is building for our retired dogs complete with a ramp and dog doors) to communicate via vibration.

Dad had to umpire all day, which meant that mom got to stay home and be lazy. (Well, in between chores.)

Mom took my boys to the movies last week and they seem to be clean and sober. They look great! (whispering….don’t tell dad but mom has been buying them groceries and ordered them a couple of pepperoni pizzas today.)

She made some stew for dinner and it is a little too done so Teddie and Gus and me get to eat it ALL! Who hoo!

Snowhook Bella’s retired dogs sure have it good. Howard has his choice of 3 houses plus a soon-to-be finished retirement cabin with no stairs, not to mention his choice of pillows inside. Life is good if you’re a Snowhook doggie.

Dawson: You’re right! I think I’ll use that as a threat the next time Mom and Dad are mean to me: “If you don’t start being nice to me — like maybe making those girls move out! — I’m moving to Alaska to live at Snowhook!” What do you think? Would it work???

Kirby T: Sure it would. But you have to start training. It’s a very long run up to Alaska…and then there’s the Iditarod coming up. Those Snowhook doggies earn their keep. I’m not sure your legs are long enough unless there is something called the Midget Iditarod. Probably best to stick it out with the devil you know…

Kirby: Mi kennel es su kennel, but if you’re not a snow lover it may not be the place for you. You could probably talk Howard into sharing a pillow, but I warn you, he wakes up in the middle of the night and decides he wants to be on another pillow so you might be in for a night of musical pillows.

Wolfie: Did I mention that I kept Howard a secret from AJ for almost 24 hours? 🙂

Rebecca: Just how much snow do you get up there, anyway? My Mom and Dad used to live in upstate New York and it snowed there all the time. They were there for two winters, and each year they got more than 20 feet of snow. I’m pretty sure that’s bigger than me!

Kirby: I don’t think our area gets 20 feet of snow per year, but I belive the Valdez area is known for large amounts of snow. We have a compbination of frigid temps and high snowfall. This past year, I recall coming home on a couple of ocassions to snow higher than thigh deep—that’s quite a walk if you get your car stuck in the half mile long driveway.

Mom always tells the story about the time my girl and her friend were out playing in the snow, and the friend started pounding frantically on the door. My girl had been walking on top of the snow in the backyard when she broke through the crust and her leg went down into the snow to the top of her thigh. No matter how hard she tried, my girl couldn’t get her leg out of the snow. So Mom went out to help, and even she couldn’t get my girl’s leg out. Finally, Mom got my girl to wiggle her foot out of her boot, and then Mom was able to pull her out of the snow. Then Mom reached down to get her boot, but try as she might, she couldn’t get it out. They ended up having to wait until the snow thawed to retrieve the boot!

Kirby: If the boot didn’t have the good sense to stay attached to your girl’s foot, then it deserved to wait in the snow and think about what it did. 🙂 Thigh deep snow on me is nothing for AJ’s 6’4″ frame which can be a bit frustrating…

Rebecca: I like your attitude! Stupid boot, anyway! Although, come to think of it, my girl was about 6 years old at the time, so thigh-high on her wasn’t nearly as deep as it is these days, since she ended up being 6 feet tall!

Rebecca: She probably wouldn’t have minded being 6 feet tall when she was 6! She actually was disappointed when she stopped growing — she played basketball in high school and was hoping for a few more inches!

Rebecca: Not always, just sometimes. It’s after 2, though, so I think I might have to head to bed! I usually wake up about 6 no matter what time I go to bed, and I find that if I get about 4 hours of sleep I’m usually good to go the next day — as long as I don’t try that too many nights in a row!